General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2007>Commonwealth Public Safety

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Commonwealth Public Safety

Passed

P HB 1923

Sex offender registry; not guilty by reason of insanity. Provides that defendants found not guilty by reason of insanity or in the custody of the Commissioner of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, or on conditional release because of a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity on or after July 1, 2007, for an offense requiring registration in the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry must register.
Patron - Griffith

P HB 2356

Office of the State Fire Marshal. Transfers the enforcement of the Statewide Fire Prevention Code from the Department of Housing and Community Development to the Department of Fire Programs under the Fire Services Board. The bill also provides for the State Fire Marshal to be employed by the Executive Director of the Department of Fire Programs rather than by the Director of Housing and Community Development. The bill is identical to SB 1132.
Patron - Cosgrove

P HB 3117

Criminal Justice Services Board; Committee on Training. Adds the active-duty law-enforcement officer representing police and fraternal organizations on the Criminal Justice Services Board to the Board's Committee on Training. This increases the membership on the Committee on Training from 13 to 14 members.
Patron - Miller, P.J.

P HB 3208

Department of Criminal Justice Services; bail bondsmen. Adds a definition of agent as a person licensed as a bail bondsman who has been given a power of attorney to act on behalf of a licensed property bail bondsman. The bill also provides that a property bail bondsman shall not enter into any bond if the aggregate of the penalty of such bond and all other bonds, on which he has not been released from liability, is in excess of four times the true market value of the equity in his real estate, cash, or certificates of deposit issued by a federally insured institution, or any combination thereof.
Patron - Ware, O.

P SB 896

Law Enforcement Procedural Guarantee Act. Adds law-enforcement officers employed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation to the list of those officers covered by the Law Enforcement Procedural Guarantee Act.
Patron - Deeds

P SB 1065

Sex Offender Registry; penalties. Clarifies that a person convicted of attempt or conspiracy to commit a registerable offense must register. The bill makes a first offense (currently a second offense) of production, publication, sale, possession with intent to distribute, and financing of sexually explicit visual material involving children a sexually violent offense. Federal convictions for sex trafficking are added as sexually violent offenses. Persons required to register will have to provide palm prints and vehicle registration information for any vehicle they own. Failure to reregister in person within three days following any change in vehicle registration information will be a Class 6 felony. Persons who do not have a continuing duty to register for life must petition the court in order to be relieved of the duty to register. In addition to the current requirement that a petition may not be filed for 10 years after initial registration or a conviction for failure to register, the bill adds that a person may not file a petition for 10 years after conviction of any felony, and that a petition may not be filed until all court-ordered treatment, counseling, and restitution is completed. The court must obtain a copy of the petitioner's complete criminal history and registration history and the Commonwealth must be made a party to the action.
Patron - McDougle

P SB 1090

Virginia State Firefighters' Association; establishment. Clarifies that the Virginia State Firemen's Association, which was created as a body corporate and politic in 1896, is currently known as the Virginia State Firefighter's Association and that the organization in its current form should continue as a body corporate and politic. The bill also sets forth the purpose of the Association and its powers.
Patron - Puckett

P SB 1132

Office of the State Fire Marshal. Transfers the enforcement of the Statewide Fire Prevention Code from the Department of Housing and Community Development to the Department of Fire Programs under the Fire Services Board. The bill also provides for the State Fire Marshall to be employed by the Director of the Department of Fire Programs rather than the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development. Under the bill, the promulgation of the Statewide Fire Prevention Code remains with the Board for Housing and Community Development. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2008. This bill is identical to HB 2356.
Patron - Deeds

P SB 1298

Criminal history; reporting. Provides that a criminal justice agency is not required to collect, maintain or update criminal history record information, as defined in § 9.1-101, when such information is already available and readily accessible from another criminal justice agency, except where the criminal justice agency already has a statutory duty to collect, maintain or update such information.
Patron - Newman

Failed

F HB 1644

Line of Duty Act; definition of deceased person; fire company personnel of the Virginia National Guard and the Virginia Air National Guard. Includes under the coverage of the Line of Duty Act individuals employed as fire company personnel for the Virginia Air National Guard or the Virginia National Guard's Fort Pickett Reserve.
Patron - Wright

F HB 2006

Line of Duty Act; definition of disabled person. Provides that local employees identified in the definition of deceased person are included in the definition of disabled person when such employees were disabled on or after January 1, 1966.
Patron - Callahan

F HB 2008

Line of Duty Act; Line of Duty Disability Fund. Creates the Line of Duty Disability Fund and funds it by imposing an additional $50 cost for certain traffic violations. The Fund is to be used to pay the costs of continued health benefits coverage provided to employees and their families under the Line of Duty Act.
Patron - Callahan

F HB 2107

Sex offender registry. Requires that persons convicted of the following crimes must register: carnal knowledge of an inmate, infected sexual battery, peeping or spying into dwelling or enclosure, fornication, lewd and lascivious cohabitation, being a prostitute, keeping a bawdy place, aiding prostitution or illicit sexual intercourse, using vehicles to promote prostitution or illegal sexual intercourse, taking or detaining a person for prostitution, receiving money for procuring a person for prostitution, receiving money from earnings of a prostitute, adultery, placing or leaving wife for prostitution, loitering or residing near a school or day care center after having been convicted of certain crimes, working or volunteering at a school or day care after having been convicted of certain crimes, person 18 or older engaging in consensual intercourse with a child 15 or older, employing or permitting a minor to assist in obscenity offense, conviction of an obscenity or pornography offense, indecent exposure, public masturbation, third misdemeanor sexually related conviction, and third felony sexual assault conviction.
Patron - Carrico

F HB 2109

Law-Enforcement Officers Procedural Guarantee Act; scope. Includes law-enforcement officers employed by the sheriff's office of a city or county in the scope of the Law-Enforcement Officers Procedural Guarantee Act.
Patron - Carrico

F HB 2185

Sex Offenses and Crimes Against Minors Act. Requires registrant to submit along with other information any e-mail address that he may use. This bill was incorporated into HB 2749.
Patron - Miller, P.J.

F HB 2186

Line of Duty Act. Amends the definition of "deceased person" to include an individual who suffers a heart attack or stroke during nonroutine, stressful, or strenuous law-enforcement situations, fire suppression, rescue, or other such activities and who suffers the heart attack or stroke while engaged in the activity or not later than 24 hours after the activity. The bill also allows for the $100,000 payment to the beneficiary of the deceased to be annually adjusted to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index.
Patron - Miller, P.J.

F HB 2200

State funds for local law enforcement; allocated for transportation. Repeals the current structure and formula for distributing certain state funds for local law enforcement in localities that have a police department, and appropriates the associated funds for transportation projects in all localities on a pro rata basis, based on population.
Patron - Wardrup

F HB 2457

Office of the State Fire Marshal. Transfers the enforcement of the Statewide Fire Prevention Code from the Department of Housing and Community Development to the Department of Fire Programs under the Fire Services Board. The bill also establishes the Office of the State Fire Marshal and provides for the State Fire Marshal to be appointed by the Secretary of Public Safety rather than by the Director of Housing and Community Development. This bill was incorporated into HB 2356.
Patron - Cline

F HB 2477

Police chaplains; certification. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to develop a voluntary training and certification program for police chaplains. Such program shall include, but not be limited to, training regarding stress management, death notification, substance abuse, ethics, and crisis response. The bill also requires each state and local law-enforcement agency to develop protocols and policies regarding police chaplains in the agency, using model policies to be published by the Department of Criminal Justice Services.
Patron - Crockett-Stark

F HB 2514

Line of Duty Act; benefits for certain private citizens. Creates a death benefit for the surviving spouse or dependents of a private citizen who was killed while coming to the aid of a law-enforcement officer that includes a $100,000 payment and a waiver of tuition at a state supported institution of higher education. An investigation as to the events surrounding the citizen's death must be initiated by the state or local law-enforcement agency involved in the event, and completed by the Department of State Police. The benefits are similar to those provided to the families of law-enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.
Patron - Nutter

F HB 2516

Overtime compensation for law-enforcement employees. Makes all law-enforcement employees eligible for overtime compensation. Currently, the overtime provisions only apply to employers of 100 or more law-enforcement employees.
Patron - Carrico

F HB 2571

Sex offender registry; penalties. Provides that any failure to register is a Class 6 felony; under current law failure to register for an offense other than a sexually violent offence or murder is a Class 1 misdemeanor and a second or subsequent conviction is a Class 6 felony. The bill requires the revocation of probation or parole if a person is convicted of failure to register and is on probation or parole for a sex offense or for failure to register. The bill specifies that similar offenses in other countries and states require registration, whether they are under existing or former laws.
Patron - Shannon

F HB 2755

Sex offender registration. Adds to the list of those offenses requiring registration as a sex offender use of a communications system, including a computer or computer network, to engage a juvenile in a sex offense. The bill also redefines sexually violent offense to include a first offense of production of child pornography rather than a second or subsequent offense thereof, as is current law.
Patron - Hurt

F HB 2817

F HB 2823

Line of Duty Act; definition of disabled person. Amends the definition of "disabled person" by adding local employees.
Patron - Sickles

F HB 2970

Reregistration of sex offenders. Intends to clarify that the reregistration periods for those on the sex offender registry are inflexible.
Patron - Bell

F HB 2985

Auxiliary police forces. Provides that members of auxiliary police forces that have met the training requirements established by the Department of Criminal Justice Services shall be deemed to be "law-enforcement officers" when called into service.
Patron - Ingram

F HB 3003

Department of Criminal Justice Services. Increases the membership of the Private Security Services Advisory Board from 13 to 14 by adding a licensed bail enforcement agent. The bill also (i) adds a definition for "DCJS Authorized Service Partner" and "school director," (ii) requires certification of compliance agents, detector canine handler examiners, and school directors for private security services training schools, (iii) clarifies the exemption from licensure for attorneys, certified public accountants, professional engineers, and architects or their employees if they are performing private security services regulated by the Department, and (iv) adds to the unlawful conduct provision procuring or assisting another to procure a registration, certification, or license through theft, fraud, or other illegal means. In addition the bill removes the option for a private security services business or training school to provide a cash or surety bond to the Department prior to operation. Such entities will have to provide evidence of a policy of liability insurance. The bill also removes obsolete transitional provisions and makes several technical amendments.
Patron - Scott, J.M.

F HB 3069

Overtime compensation for state law-enforcement employees. Extends the current overtime compensation provisions for law-enforcement employees to state law-enforcement employees.
Patron - Carrico

F HB 3210

Police canines. Requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish minimum training and certification requirements for canines used by law-enforcement agencies in the Commonwealth. Beginning January 1, 2008, all such canines used in the Commonwealth would be required to be certified pursuant to the Department's standards.
Patron - Carrico

F SB 776

Law-Enforcement Officers Procedural Guarantee Act. Makes several changes as to the process and procedures afforded to officers under the procedural guarantee act, clarifying several existing rights and setting forth specific procedures for the questioning of officers and the conduct of a disciplinary hearing.
Patron - Cuccinelli

F SB 855

Department of Criminal Justice Services; residency requirement for bail bondsmen. Provides that in order to be licensed as a bail bondsmen, a person shall be a resident of the Commonwealth. The bill also repeals the provision that allows nonresident transfers and applicants for a bail bondsman license to receive such a license upon the satisfaction of all licensing requirements for residents of the Commonwealth.
Patron - Reynolds

F SB 885

F SB 1010

Line of Duty Act; definition of disabled person. Amends the definition of "disabled person" by adding local employees.
Patron - Saslaw

F SB 1157

Line of Duty Act; definition of disabled person. Amends the definition of "disabled person" by adding local employees.
Patron - Quayle

F SB 1158

Line of Duty Disability Fund. Establishes the Line of Duty Disability Fund to help pay the costs of disability benefits provided under the Line of Duty Act. Under the bill the Fund will consist of funds as may be appropriated by the General Assembly and moneys deposited from an additional $50 cost imposed for certain traffic incidents. Portions of the bill referring to the deposit of moneys from the additional fees imposed for certain traffic incidents will become effective only if legislation is enacted establishing for the deposit of such moneys into the Fund.
Patron - Quayle

F SB 1159

F SB 1217

Forensic laboratory services; private police departments. Requires the Department of Forensic Science to provide forensic laboratory services upon request of any private police department employing special conservators of the peace. Private police departments currently have to go through a public law-enforcement agency to submit evidence to the lab.
Patron - Hanger

F SB 1220

Line of Duty Act. Creates the Line of Duty Disability Fund and funds it by imposing an additional $50 cost for certain traffic violations. The Fund is to be used to pay the costs of continued health benefits coverage provided to employees and their families under the Line of Duty Act. This bill was incorporated into SB 1159.
Patron - Saslaw

F SB 1249

Assessment for conviction of certain crimes; detoxification center programs. Allows any county or city that has established a detoxification center program to assess a $100 fee following conviction of certain crimes (e.g., selling alcohol to underage persons; underage possession of alcohol; purchasing alcohol for underage person; maiming as a result of drunk driving; DUI involuntary manslaughter; DUI; public intoxication) to support the local detoxification program.
Patron - Herring

F SB 1308

Courthouse security; training. Provides that sheriffs may designate deputies that will provide only partial courthouse security, primarily guarding the entrances and working metal detectors. The bill also provides that the Department of Criminal Justice Services will establish an abbreviated two-week training course for such deputies. Currently, deputies used in this limited role must attend the same training as those who are fulfilling all the duties of courthouse and courtroom security officers, which lasts between six and eight weeks.
Patron - Newman

F SB 1359

Crisis intervention pilot programs for persons with mental illness. Permits the Department of Criminal Justice Services to establish crisis intervention team pilot programs in up to six areas of the state by January 1, 2008. The crisis intervention team pilot programs shall assist law-enforcement officers in responding to crisis situations involving persons with mental illness, substance abuse, or both. By November 1, 2007, the Department shall submit to the Joint Commission on Health Care a report outlining the plan for the program. The Department, in consultation with the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, shall establish a training program for all persons involved in the crisis intervention team pilot programs. Each crisis intervention team shall develop a protocol that permits law-enforcement officers to release from custody persons whom they encounter in crisis situations when the crisis intervention team has determined the person is sufficiently stable. The Department shall evaluate and report annually to the Joint Commission on Health Care on the impact and effectiveness of the crisis intervention team pilot programs.
Patron - Edwards

F SB 1372

Criminal justice training academy fees. Allows Roanoke County to charge certain fees to be used to support its participation in a local or independent criminal justice training academy. The fees are similar to those charged by the state on misdemeanors and traffic infractions for deposit into a state fund to provide financial support to regional criminal justice training academies.
Patron - Bell

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General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2007>Commonwealth Public Safety

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